PRO FOOTBALL; Carson Makes Hall at Last; Party Goes On Without Him

By JOHN BRANCH

Published: February 5, 2006

When the call Harry Carson wanted finally arrived, his phone went unanswered and his voice mailbox was full, presumably with a mix of good wishes and heartfelt congratulations.

Carson, the former Giants linebacker and a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the seventh time, had grown weary of waiting for disappointing news. So, as most other candidates made their way close to Detroit, or at least turned their attention toward the announcement, Carson was nowhere to be found.

Carson, 52, will enter the Hall with the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, the former Oakland coach John Madden, the well-traveled quarterback Warren Moon, the former Eagles and Packers defensive end Reggie White and the longtime Dallas Cowboys offensive tackle Rayfield Wright. The six will be inducted during a ceremony Aug. 6 in Canton, Ohio.

Four inductees and White's widow, Sara, were ushered to a news conference after the announcement. Sara White accepted her husband's honor with a strong voice, then quietly wept as Wright spoke at the lectern.

No one could reach Carson.

''It's only fitting that he puts the Hall of Fame on hold for a little bit,'' said Rich Eisen of the NFL Network, the master of ceremonies at the news conference.

Aikman, Moon and White were selected by the 39 voters in their first year of eligibility. Madden and Wright each had been eligible more than 20 years, and were in their second year as nominees of the Hall's senior committee.

Madden, perhaps better known as a television analyst and as the namesake of a popular series of football video games than as the coach of the Raiders from 1969 to 1978, could not disguise his emotions.

He joked that the honor could not be taken back, occasionally punctuating his remarks with a belly laugh, at one point gleefully pounding his fists on the lectern.

''I'm not going to make a lot of sense,'' he said. ''I'm not going to try to, and I don't care. But, believe me, it comes from my heart. I'm humbled and I'm grateful and I'm thankful, and, it's just --''

He paused, then added, ''I've got to sit down.''

It was the type of excitement that Carson had kept bottled for more than a decade after he became eligible for the Hall of Fame.

He spent much of his 13-year career at middle linebacker between Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks. Carson had said that being selected to the Pro Bowl was more meaningful than the Hall of Fame, because peers, not news media members, selected Pro Bowlers.

Until Saturday, he had to find solace in those words, satiating his appetite for recognition with nine Pro Bowl selections.

In March 2004, after being a Hall of Fame finalist five times, Carson sent a letter to the Hall asking that his name be removed from consideration. The request was denied.

He was a finalist again last year. About a week before he was bypassed for the sixth time, he told The New York Times: ''I've been through this long enough. It has to do with my own pride and what I think about myself. What was an honor is now a burden.''

Carson, 6 feet 2 inches and 237 pounds, was a fourth-round draft pick from South Carolina State in 1976 and became a starter midway through his rookie season. At 25, he became the youngest Giants captain in history.

He led the team in tackles five times, and he made a key goal-line stop in the Giants' Super Bowl XXI victory against the Denver Broncos.

He became widely known for celebrating imminent victories by showering Coach Bill Parcells on the sideline with the contents of a drink bucket.

''I'm just elated by Harry's election,'' Parcells, now the Cowboys' coach, said in a statement released by the Giants. ''He was a tremendous player and an integral part of one of the N.F.L.'s best two or three defenses for several years. He was a dynamic performer, a true professional and someone who is more than deserving of this recognition.''

Carson's former teammates compared him to the game's greatest middle linebackers, including Dick Butkus, Willie Lanier and Mike Singletary.

The former Giants defensive end George Martin said he spoke with Carson about two weeks ago.

''I asked him, 'Harry, how would you feel if they finally came to their senses and elected you?' '' Martin said in a Giants statement. ''He said it would be one of the proudest days of his life. He will be overjoyed. I think he will compose himself, and you won't see the feelings deep inside of him. But I can tell you this is the proudest day of his professional life. This is something he has dreamed about.''

Aikman led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl victories in the 1990's, a decade in which he won 90 games -- the most of any quarterback in any decade.

White, nicknamed the Minister of Defense -- he was ordained as a Baptist minister at 17 -- was the N.F.L.'s defensive player of the year twice, 11 years apart. He was selected to 13 consecutive Pro Bowls with Philadelphia and Green Bay.

He died at 43 of a respiratory ailment on Dec. 26, 2004, about 10 days before his 20th wedding anniversary.

Moon, the first black quarterback to be selected to the Hall, followed six seasons in the Canadian Football League with 17 in the N.F.L., mostly with the Houston Oilers. When he retired, he was third in N.F.L. history in pass attempts, completions and passing yards.

''I think all the guys that have played the game before me as African-Americans have to share in this a little bit, because we've made tremendous strides over the years,'' Moon said. ''I really don't want to make this a racial thing, because it shouldn't be, but it is significant because it is the first.''

Wright played three positions in his first three seasons, finally settling in at tackle, where he was a first- or second-team all-league player six times.

He played 13 seasons for the Cowboys and appeared in five Super Bowls.

Among the finalists who were not selected for induction this year were wide receivers Michael Irvin and Art Monk, running back Thurman Thomas and tackle Gary Zimmerman.

Photo: Troy Aikman, John Madden, Sara White (Reggie White's widow), Warren Moon and Rayfield Wright in Detroit after the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced its latest inductees. Harry Carson did not attend. (Photo by Barton Silverman/The New York Times)(pg. 14)